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Renault Clio - 1.2 16v Misfire Information

222K views 73 replies 48 participants last post by  Phil48 
#1 ·
We had a 2002 Clio with the 1.2 16 valve (D4F,chassis code BO5) engine in it at work this week which had the engine management light on and the car was intermittantly misfiring.The codes stored in the ECU were refering to a misfire on cylinders 2 and 3.

We traced the fault to the coil pack(surprise,surprise!).The D4F engine is a bit of an odd ball engine as rather than using individual pencil coils it uses one coil to run all the cylinders.



The unit is held on with 3 T30 torx headed bolts (holes marked in picture below:))and is very easy to replace.You just pull the leads off of the plugs,remove the multiplug from the coil and undo the three bolts.



A couple of things to bear in mind are the fact that the ends that go on to the plugs are made of very brittle plastic and easy to break,so when changing the plugs,be very careful when removing the leads.Also,the plugs are a strange size and a normal plug socket won't fit them.I used a 14mm deep socket,but you have to be careful as proper plug sockets are designed to avoid damaging the ceramic insulation,but a normal socket isn't.......



The leads are built into the coil pack,so if you manage to break a lead when changing the plugs,you have to replace the whole unit!.Don't panic though,as the whole thing from Renault is only around £35.Also,the leads are numbered so you can't mix them up,but be aware that the French number the cylinders from the flywheel end,rather than the front of the engine like everyone else,so number 1 cylinder is the one nearest the gearbox,number 4 is one nearest the cambelt end.:rolleyes:

If you do have to replace a coil pack,it is always advisable to replace the plugs at the same time.:)

Hope this helps someone out in the future.:)
 
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#3 ·
I'm afraid not,but if you follow the plug leads it will be at the other end of them.On the Clio I worked on it was bolted on top of the left side of the engine as you looked at it from the front.:)
 
#7 ·
What Sparkplugs do I need?

Hi,

My Clio 1.2 16v Billabong '53 reg is running badly, I had an electrics diagnostics test done at Nationwide for £45 - instead of £75 + VAT at Renault. It pointed out sparkplugs need changing and also coil pack - they quoted £135 to do it. I've opted to try and do it myself. Purchased the Coil pack (part 8200084401) from Renault dealer for £53. The photos on this post are great and I should be able to do it myself. I went to Halfords to get Sparkplugs but their catalogues had dashes (-) against my vehicle so not sure what plugs I need. Can anyone comment on these questions...
1. Are CD workshop manuals any good and do they show exploded views of parts?
2. What Spark plugs do I need?
3. Where do you find the chassis code?
4. When I enter "coil pack" in the search engine - it brings back loads of other stuff - is there a better way of searching?
Thanks!
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the forum.:)

The CD dialogys are very good.

The spark plugs are a strange size,but any decent motor factors should have some.

The chassis number is on a sticker on the drivers door pillar.

I'd search in specific sections rather than the complete forum,this should cut down on the amount of results you get.:)
 
#10 ·
Hi - just wanted to say thanks to lagdti and everyone else who has commented on these problems as I've managed to sort out my 04 Clio 1.2 16V Expression.

I noticed a couple of tanks of fuel ago that whenever I was at idle there was an intermittent misfire which just got worse and worse the longer you left it idling until the engine was literally rocking in its mounts. Strangely I hadn't noticed any sort of problem in normal driving conditions. I thought I'd check the spark plugs but they seemed fine after 25k on the clock. At work we have an ignition timing strobe and you could see that there were missing current pulses on all of the cylinders on and off, worse on 1 and 2. I googled around and eventually found this thread, phoned up my local Unipart and they got in a coil pack and 4 spark plugs the next day for the grand total of £57. Fitted them in no time at all and everything is back to full working order. Gave the car a good run down to London this weekend and I'm happy as Larry now. No idea how much this has saved as I can imagine taking it to Renault they would have mis-diagnosed it and I've have ended up spending a fortune on things I just didn't need as per other horror story threads on these forums!

One question to anyone out there - what do you rekon are the chances of this sort of thing damaging the cat by dumping unburnt fuel down the exhaust? Hoping not too much over just 2 or 3 tanks of fuel when the problem only seemed to happen at idle - but there must be people out there who have this problem and do nothing about it between services.

So anyway, thanks again and I know where I will be looking if (and when) something else drops off of my Clio!

Dave
 
#11 ·
I solved it with RTV sillicone glue and insulator tape..the pint sized hole is caused by moisture tru flashover...get sealing rings to prevent moisture leaking into the chamber and use BOSCH SUPER spark plugs to prevent spark plug flashover...cos it has corrugated ribs on its insulator.




This is savvy's connector, pic posted by nerdeliteonline ..I had a similar hole on my 4th connector though a little smaller where my 3rd and 4th plugs oxidised badly. Rough idling, engine misfirings and power loss happened right just after a heavy downpour. Solved with insulator tape and a new set of spark plugs.

My badly oxidised plugs.
Proton Savvy Owner Club :: Log in

Check out the link
Magnecor Race Wires: Mitsubishi twin cam technical bulletin


Same problem found on other types of connectors! And at the same location!


Spark plug connector shown above has been damaged by water inside a spark plug well. Red arrow points to an arc-hole burnt by the spark arcing through the plastic tube to reach the water on the outside of the tube at times when the spark finds it easier to ground out to the water than it is to fire across a widened spark plug gap (from wear or adjustment) when the engine is under load.


An arc-hole in the plastic tube can be hard to find, and a magnifier will help (it is not always as obvious as the example shown at left) — but usually it will appear at the location marked by the red arrow (anywhere around the plastic tube). The example connector shown also had oil all over it from a leaking valve cover gasket, and the car had been driven a great number of miles in this condition with the engine misfiring each time the connector became wet and arcing occurred.

Hot engine oil can also cause the bottom seal to swell.




Example of latest version all silicone rubber one piece spark plug connector shown above (also covered in engine oil) can withstand more abuse from water and oil than the OE style connector, although too much water and/or oil in spark plug well will also cause this style connector to become damaged over time. If water is not removed from well soon after an engine miss is first noticed, an arc-hole can also be burned by the spark wanting to ground out to the water on the outside of this connector in preference to firing across a widened spark plug gap (from wear or adjustment) when the engine is under load. Red arrow indicates area where an arc-hole will most likely be found (anywhere around the connector's shaft).




Spark Plug flashover


Spark jumping from terminal nut to plug shell

Sparkplugs.com - Spark Plug 411

Flashover is when the voltage sent to the spark plug does not fire between the center and ground electrodes within the combustion chamber, instead, it shorts between the metal shell and the terminal nut on the plug exterior causing the engine to misfire. This can occur when the air is highly ionized (such as on a stormy day), or when the insulator is dirty. To reduce flashover the top portions of the insulator have 4 or 5 ribbed corrugations(depending on manufacturer).

Wiki:By lengthening the surface between the high voltage terminal and the grounded metal case of the spark plug, the physical shape of the ribs functions to improve the electrical insulation and prevent electrical energy from leaking along the insulator surface from the terminal to the metal case. The disrupted and longer path makes the electricity encounter more resistance along the surface of the spark plug even in the presence of dirt and moisture.



*Note: our stock Champion spark plugs' insulator only have smooth surface compare to other compatible Bosch, NGK and even Denso.

LATEST UPDATE: ONLY Bosch spark plug has the corrugated feature while the stock Champion and NGK plugs have smooth surface insulator.

D4F sparkies:
Champion REA8MCL (stock)
NGK LZKAR7A
Bosch Super VR8SEW (recommended)!
Denso FXE20HR11(SIP IRIDIUM Not Tough)

Champion plugs


Denso


Not-for-savvy NGK plugs


Note the threaded part is shorter than ours, means Savvy's D4F engine head is very thick which is a good thing.

Bosch plugs
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/jalanipoh/DSC00094.jpg





How to solve/repair the problem


1. wrap the connector's affected area (the hole) with insulator tape.
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or

2. Repair it with RTV silicone adhesive. Clean the connector with a solvent, and open up the hole with a small nail or paperclip so that the RTV can be pushed into and around it. Allow RTV to set for about 12 hours. Remove all water and oil from spark plug well before re-installing. Also check condition of spark plugs.

Magnecor Race Wires: Mitsubishi twin cam technical bulletin


How to prevent the problem from happening in future.


1. Seal with O-rings to prevent moisture/water going into the hole. Tobyboy's method.

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2. Reinforce the connectors with hi temperature insulator tape ( can be bought at Jusco at RM7 per roll. Wrap at lower part of the connectors, where the holes could possibly appear like shown in the pic. That's what I did to the unaffected connectors).

Another example of such tape.



 
#12 ·
Had the usual warning lights & misfire issues. Bought new leads from Daytona GB (http://www.daytonagblimited.co.uk/) who were very quick to get a set to me for the princely sum of £38 + £5.50 P/P (First Class Recorded).

Fitted in 5 mins, problem now gone!

One point to note, the warning light might not stop flashing immediately, but goes out once there's some heat in the engine. Presumably as it needs the cat/lambda sensor to get up to temperature & burn-off any contaminants.
 
#13 ·
I too had the same problem at 40.000 miles on my renault Kangoo 1.2 16V.
Having observed the engine running in the dark with the air filter cover removed - I could see arcing on cylinder number two.
I replaced the ignition coil and spark plugs about £58.00.
Now runs fine. I also had to buy a long reach spark plug
socket about £16.00.
Cheaper than a dealer fix I think.
 
#14 ·
We had a 2002 Clio with the 1.2 16 valve (D4F,chassis code BO5) engine in it at work this week which had the engine management light on and the car was intermittantly misfiring.The codes stored in the ECU were refering to a misfire on cylinders 2 and 3.

We traced the fault to the coil pack(surprise,surprise!).The D4F engine is a bit of an odd ball engine as rather than using individual pencil coils it uses one coil to run all the cylinders.
Hi..,. i have a clio 1.2 and im not too sure as to what this light means, but i have a bad feeling it is related to what you have mentioned. ... can you help?



thanks! btw ive been to a few garages and they ask me about whether my car is petrol is diesel?..so im baffled about what this light is on for..i have had car serviced!
 
#15 ·
i have a clio 1.2 8v a while back timing belt snapped so head head gasket done new valves got it all togeather fired up perfect got it through test come to fire it up this morning and its on 3 cylinders pot 4 has gone down i have changed plugs changed ht leads and changed coil pack and also changed injector 4 for injector 1 but still same as any one any ideas why this may be and there is compressing in pot 4 need help and its a 2002
 
#20 ·
Hi Dale. I had similar problem and when I swapped injectors it seemed ok to, I did notice spray pattern was poor though, but checked in an injector spray booth I notice the said injector was producing a poor spray and fuel delivery rate was well under the other 3.
I bought a new injector at renault £66 and all was well.
Hope this helps you.
On the other hand di you check the tappets or manifolds for air leaks?
 
#16 ·
I have a 1.4 mk2 clio. I was just wondering whether a dodgy TDC sensor can cause just one piston to fail on its own? My thermostat has been leaking a lot lately and I think I read that the TDC sensor is located right beneath it. If some water/coolant has gone into the sensor, would it affect all the pistons together or can it isolate one?

I have checked the coil for the misfiring piston and it sparks fine. replaced the spark plug with a bosch one aswell and still no response from piston 4 :(

Im really hoping its a cheap fix
 
#18 ·
my 1.2, 16v, clio campus sport had a similar issue... changed spark plugs and coil pack and ran fine for around 3-4 days (following diagnostics test)...

now the car is very poor in acceleration and wont go above 50-60mph... any ideas?

revised diagnostics test is coming back with a knock sensor issue

would appreciate your help and any swift reply, as its currently costing me a small fortune...

thanks, Graeme
 
#22 ·
They do just pull out but can be tough to get going due to the tight fit they need on the top of the spark plugs. I've just replaced mine after getting the dreaded toxic fumes warning light, but managed to get my finger trapped between the pencil and the engine body when one of them did eventually give way ... agony!! :shocked: Thankfully the other three were injury free, though still firmly attached.

Aside from that, the misfiring has definitely stopped (not moved the car yet, but the misfiring tended to occur during low-revs for me). The warning light is still on, but I'm assuming it just needs a bit of heat through it in order to burn off the contaminates. (I hope!)
 
#24 ·
Hi all

My Y-reg Clio is having the same problem. It sometimes starts but runs like a dog and chucks out a load of soot and it smells bad.

I want to have a go at drying the ignition system. Is there a step-by-step guide on how to do this? I don't want to break anything (further)!

I did have the coil packs replaced a few months ago. Would this count as a failed part or is it just crap design that lets in moisture?

Thanks a lot.
Mark
 
#26 ·
Hmmm, me again.

Used car today and all seemed fine. Outward and return journeys - no problem.

Tried to start it this evening and it just refused to fire at all. Starter motor turning fine, but no attempt at a fire. So turned it all off - waited 10 secs. Tried again - all fine again.

The weather is very damp today. Anybody got any bright ideas what the problem might be?

Incidentally, found this just sitting on the engine block (just behind the where the coil pencils are pushed onto the spark plugs). Anyone know what it is? It looks like it may be a seal of some sort.

Ta muchly.
Mark
 

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#28 ·
The mechanic who has just fully serviced my 16v clio extreme has also had to replace ignition coil (about 3 - 4 weeks after he completed the service) & charged me around £110 just for the part.

Have I had my pants pulled down on this one cus' found them much cheaper on internet for as little as £30 -£40?
 
#30 ·


The CoilPack is shown here, top right (on cam cover) of this image.

Star Drive screw head bolts are used to secure it.

You would see the engine like this if the bulkhead, in front of the drivers seat, was 'invisible'.

Hope this helps someone.....:cheers:

:loser:
knownClone
 
#31 ·
Hi everyone. I believe I am having the same problem. Car seems to be misfiring under rapid acceleration at low revs and occasionally at idle. I pulled the leads off the plugs one by one and each was creating sparks bar #3. I am therefore assuming that I need to replace the coil pack and leads.
Was just wondering if anyone could confirm my suspicions before I go and buy the replacement parts.
Thanks,
Russ
 
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